SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Zeyad Khoshaim, Abdullah Alajlan, Kamil Mehiz and Sarah Sedky, K&A
• proof of the award’s deposit with the competent court, as required by Article 44 of the Saudi Arbi - tration Law (see 10.1 Legal Requirements ). Enforcing a Foreign Arbitral Award To enforce a foreign arbitral award in Saudi Arabia, the following conditions must be met. • Reciprocity between Saudi Arabia and the jurisdic - tion where the award was issued must be estab- lished. The burden of proving reciprocity lies with the party requesting enforcement. • The award must be issued by a tribunal with jurisdiction according to the applicable law, and its subject matter must not fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Saudi Arabian courts. • The parties must have been notified of the arbitra - tion proceedings, properly represented, and given a reasonable opportunity to present their case. If the party against whom enforcement is sought did not participate in the arbitration, the party request - ing enforcement must prove that the respondent was notified of the proceedings. • There must be no similar proceedings pending in Saudi Arabia that were filed before the proceedings in which the foreign award was issued. • The award must be final. • The award must not contradict another judgment or court order issued on the same subject in Saudi Arabia. • The award must not violate Saudi Arabia’s public policy (see Articles 11 and 12, the Saudi Enforce - ment Law; see also Article 9, the New Enforcement Law, which will come into effect in late October 2026). Enforcement Procedure Under the existing enforcement framework governed by the Enforcement Law, the enforcement procedure typically includes the following. • Submitting the enforcement request to the Enforcement Court through the Saudi MoJ’s Najiz portal. • The court reviews the request within one to three days to assess procedural aspects and refer it to an enforcement judge.
• The enforcement judge issues an order within three to five days, requiring compliance within five days (see the Enforcement Law, Articles 34 and 46). • If the debtor cannot be notified of the enforcement order within 20 days of its issuance, the enforce - ment judge will immediately order publication of the order in the most widely circulated newspaper in the area of the court. The debtor will eventually incur the cost of such publication (approximately USD100) in addition to the debt (see the Enforce - ment Law, Article 34). • If the debtor does not voluntarily comply with the enforcement order, the enforcement court shall then order measures such as bank account attach - ment, travel bans or suspension of the commercial register. These actions can be taken five days after the debtor is notified of the order or, if notification is not possible, five days after the order is pub - lished in a newspaper (see the Enforcement Law, Article 46). Once the New Enforcement Law enters into force, the enforcement process will generally proceed as follows. • The enforcement applicant submits the request electronically to the Enforcement Court through the Saudi MoJ’s Najiz portal, together with the enforce - ment instrument and an Arabic translation if the document is not in Arabic. • The competent enforcement department reviews the filing for procedural completeness. If the application is deficient, the applicant is generally required to cure the deficiency within ten working days; otherwise, the request may be rejected (see the New Enforcement Law, Article 13). • If the enforcement instrument satisfies the applica - ble requirements, the Enforcement Court issues an enforcement order requiring the debtor to com - ply. The debtor is notified through the approved notification channels. If notification is not possible, the order may be announced through the legally approved method, with the same legal effect as notification (see the New Enforcement Law, Article 14). • If the debtor does not comply within five work - ing days from notification or announcement, compulsory enforcement measures commence
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